Naruto's Curse
by of815
Summary: Rated T for light sexual content. Naruto and Sakura finally admit to have feelings for each other. But is it too good to be true? Naruto finds evidence of having his own bloodline limit, but is it a gift or a curse?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one: This kind of thing never happens.**

It plagued Naruto's thoughts even though he didn't give much time to thinking. There was a time he had felt tied down by the Rasen-Shiruken, and he learned how to throw it. Even though he had accomplished a great deal in a small amount of time, he was not satisfied. He was tied down again - trapped, because of the existence of Genjitsu.

It was Itachi and his eyes. He couldn't escape them. Sauske might have the same eyes someday, and that twisted Naruto up inside. He had no natural ability for it. He could work hard at it, but he was no genius.

"I have to have some way to defend against it." Naruto told himself.

He sat under a tree in shadow. The sun's light warmed the ground and heated the air. It was humid out by a rock formation where Naruto had trained before with Yamato and Kakashi. Water no longer poured from where once was a complete waterfall built by Yamato. Without the waterfall there it looked quite beautiful with a bridge made of sculpted wood and trees, and a mountain carved from the water. Across the rocks were a large cut into the mountain where Naruto had cut the water in half. It reminded him of the scratch he put on Sauske's forehead protector.

He missed Kakashi.

"Naruto?" Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan. What are you doing here?" Naruto said back startled.

"I've actually been looking all over for you." She said with a light smile. The corners of her lips turned up and her eyes grew wider. She looked excited. She was trying to show confidence to hide her shyness, but Naruto saw she was blushing.

"For me?" Naruto said with his eyes now even wider than hers. Their eyes met for a moment but Sakura couldn't hold the stare any longer. She turned and looked at her feet scuffling in the dirt. Naruto looked down too, thinking too much about how stupid he must have looked - instead of thinking of something to say. But, the awkwardness passed.

"Look, Naruto, I wanted to tell you something." Sakura said. "The whole village is a mess, for sure. But you were there to protect us. Don't feel bad for what Akatsuki has done. I wanted to thank you for what you've done for us."

"I was the one that got you guys into it." Naruto said.

"What?" Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan, I was the one they were looking for."

"I know that!" Sakura said wanting to slap some sense into him. She rarely saw him so down. "Please, don't think of it that way."

"It's not what you think." Naruto said. "I'm not sad. I'm not depressed about it. I just know that I have to do something. And I don't know what it is yet."

"What do you mean?" Sakura said. If he really wasn't depressed, she still rarely saw him this thoughtful.

"Just let me think." Naruto said.

"But, I'm not finished..." Sakura said.

For a while both of them stood up in silence. Sakura waited for Naruto to stop thinking. Naruto waited for something to come to him. But when Naruto felt that there was no deep desire forming, he felt empty. Naruto breathed in and out with no special emotion. Even knowing Sakura was beside him didn't stir him. Something was wrong. This emptiness - this must feel what it is like to give up.

Tears swelled up in Naruto's eyes. They dropped off his face like stream of water running down a stone statue. He was crying there, standing still and confused. There were so many reasons why this was happening. He couldn't pin this feeling on one exact thing. It could have been Kakashi, Jiraya, or that he just didn't understand the world he lived in enough to protect the people he loved. It was everything and nothing. So many people had died.

He dropped to his knees and caught his flowing tears into his hands. The water pooled in his palms and fell out between the cracks of his fingers. He tightened his hands and made claws out of them. Naruto trembled at the sight of it. The beast was within him. And as long as it was inside him, people would pursue its power.

Naruto's trembling turned to quaking and realized it wasn't him wobbling - it was Sakura shaking him.

"What's wrong Naruto? What's wrong? Please talk to me." Sakura said sobbing.

Sakura had waited what had seemed like an hour for him to snap out of it.

"I know what I have to do Sakura." Naruto said looking at Sakura's hands on his shoulders.

She pulled them away and kneeled in front of him putting her hands in her lap.

"What, what do you have to do?"

Naruto looked straight to Sakura with gleaming blue eyes covered in tears. Sakura couldn't stand seeing him like this for much longer. She noticed that the whole time he cried he never blinked. He gave her such a piercing stare, unflinching, and with a passion unrivaled. Naruto smiled a bit, but didn't try to hide his emotions too much for Sakura. He put up a clenched fist then extended a thumb upward.

It wasn't that Naruto felt like giving up. It was that, for a moment, he thought that he would have to sacrifice the love he had for the people he cared about. But in his heart and in his mind he realized he must do both.

"A beautiful girl like you doesn't have to worry about things like this. I'll take care of it. Don't you worry Sakura-chan, leave it to me." Naruto said with less intensity than usual.

"Ah, Naruto..." Sakura said, with a sour face. "I'm not totally worthless you know."

Naruto laughed.

"What are you laughing at? I'm not just some girl!" Sakura said.

"I know Sakura-chan." Naruto walked up close to her. Sakura was a bit shocked by how forward he was being but she didn't turn away.

"I wanted," Sakura could barely get a word out. She was breathless from being in his presence. She had never felt this before with him. It was different from the dream she had. "I wanted to tell you something. And, you aren't letting me finish."

Naruto had her hands raised to her chest with his own hands wrapped around them. He could feel her breath on his fingers. He was so dirty from training; he must have smelled like an animal. She smelled like fruit.

"Tell me." He said.

She hung her head a little to recall the dream she experienced the night before. She let out a whimper and a cry. Sakura then shook Naruto's hands away and wrapped her arms around him. She pressed herself against him, digging her face into his chest.

"I had a dream. It was about you and Sauske. Like when we were younger. Something happened, and I saw an explosion in the distance. I just knew something had happened. I ran towards it." She said this and held him tighter. Naruto didn't know whether or not to put his arms around her. He kept asking himself if it was appropriate.

"And there you both were, in the rubble. I tried to heal Sauske first." She said. Energy drained out of Naruto hearing that. She could feel him starting to back away. But she held him tighter, and she went on.

"I couldn't save him, and I was crying but I had to go to you too. And when I went to you, you were gone. I couldn't save you either." She said. Sakura sobbed for a moment. "I realize how stupid I was for doing what I did. It killed me inside Naruto. I woke up and... And I missed you. It was you who I missed. I was stupid for going to him. I knew that morning, when I woke up, how stupid I was to go to him and not spend every second that I could trying to bring you back."

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

"Naruto, I can't lose you." Sakura said. Naruto put his hand on Sakura's back with care, almost not even touching her. He was afraid.

"You could have died when we got attacked." Naruto said, still unsure, trembling as the words came out. "I can't lose you either. I'm in love with you Sakura. I've wanted you for so long."

"I've known it." She said. "And I've fallen for you. I want you too. I love you so much."

He couldn't let it go easily. She had always approved of Sauske, not him. She had always rejected him. Something had always gotten in the way.

"Please hold me." She said.

And he did.

He held her slender body for a moment in the warmth of a purple sunset. Her breasts were firm against his body and she pushed her hips up to meet his, if not only to have more of her body touching his. There was a sort of squeezing match between them for a while, and it turned into one bear hug after another. After the last squeeze they laughed and smiled looking into each others eyes, finally comfortable with staring. They both knew what they wanted.

It was a slow kiss. Both of their foreheads touched each other. Naruto found her adorable - how pretty her red hair was hanging in her face. He ran his palm across her cheek with his fingers sweeping away her hair. His hand tucked in under the back of her head and down her neck. Sakura shivered with pleasure as he pulled her towards him. She opened her mouth slightly and put her face forward but didn't find Naruto, and she opened her eyes for a moment to look.

He was instead brushing his cheek with hers and taking a deep breath. Her ear turned red with warmth. She immediately shut her eyes again at the sheer pleasure of hearing him breathe. He was close enough to tell her a secret. And he didn't have to say anything. Her mouth widened as if being hurt by the amount of tension. Sakura noticed she wasn't breathing and had to catch it. She whimpered as she forced a first breath. And then systematically let in some oxygen. Her head was spinning.

He kissed her cheek softly again and again, closer to her mouth each time. With every kiss he brushed her hair back and her breathing followed in-sync. Naruto seemed to pull away and Sakura opened her eyes slightly wondering if he could possibly be stopping.

Naruto straightened up fast and pulled her close by her waist. Her legs were hanging with the tips of her toes touching the ground. She was hoisted up so fast that her face almost slammed into his, but she caught his head on both sides. He had a soft boyish grin on his face and his eyes closed, half of his fang tooth seemed to be biting his lower lip. Sakura was happy and excited. She had no idea Naruto could be so attentive.

She pulled his head a little closer and stretched her torso a bit taller. Their lips came together one on top of the other, and stayed there for a moment with energy shooting out from that point into their bodies. Naruto closed his mouth sucking on Sakura's bottom lip. And afterwards, they went on for a succession of kisses as she pulled him backwards onto the dirt and grass.

Sakura looked over and saw a fire pit when taking a breath.

"Were you going to camp here tonight?" Sakura said.

"Yeah, I have supplies. Only one sleeping back though." Naruto said.

"Hmm, where will I sleep?" Sakura said with sarcasm.

"Oh, you can take the sleeping bag." Naruto said.

"Ah, you dork. We're sleeping together in the same bag." Sakura said.

Naruto giggled to hide his bewilderment. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"I want to try something." Said Naruto.

"What?" Sakura said. "Nothing perverted, this is our first date still."

"Don't worry, trust me. Close your eyes." Naruto said. "Kage Bunshin no Jitsu."

She knew what he was doing. Everything else had been so blissful. This was going to be bad. He was going to take it too far. She felt his hands on her leg running over her calf muscle. Her hair stood on end and she could feel the goose bumps forming on her arms. He ran his palm over the hairs on her neck, ticking her and making her squirm. She giggled but wanted him to continue.

She counted ten hands forming a train that ran around her body. She could hear foot steps walking around her. More hands were running finger patterns up and down her back. Some of the hands were giving a deep tissue massage in certain places that found tension or any imperfection of chakra flow. Sometimes she was floating and being carried by hands, shoulders, arms, and knees. He massaged her feet. And, once she felt the familiar popping sound and felt a puff of smoke - she had to open her eyes to see what was going on.

Naruto had fifteen clones minus any that had already disappeared. All of them were exploring her body carefully. They were counting every hair on her head. They touched and kissed every available piece of flesh and ran their fingers over every strand of clothing. She twisted around, moving with them. Sakura made it a challenge for herself to find out which one was really him. She pet his hair like a puppy while he nuzzled her thigh. She pecked him on the cheek as he walked by brushing her stomach with his nails. She kneeled a bit and turned around.

One Naruto was just standing there looking. And he talked to her.

"Do you know how my shadow clones work?" He said.

"They're working just fine with me." She said with her body intense with pleasure. She twisted and turned with them in a bizarre dance.

"All of the information that they receive is returned to me when I let them go."

An echoing of knowing laughs came from the clones.

"Let them go then, I want to see." She said.

They all went up in smoke. And when the smoke cleared Naruto brought his lips to Sakura's ear again as if to tell a secret.

"Sakura, I know your body so well I could sculpt it into stone. I know every inch of your body and where your chakra flows. I know where you are sensitive. I know where you are ticklish. I know how to give you goose bumps. And now I know-" He said, interrupted.

"Touch me."

He waited there for a moment.

"Oh god, Naruto, touch me."

***

**Next Chapter: It seemed too good to be true and it probably was.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: It seemed too good to be true and it probably was.**

"Hello Naruto." Kurenai said. "What brings you here?"

It was another orange sunny day and Naruto had decided to pursue his idea of learning something about genjitsu from one of the experts. Naruto had already gone through formal training with Jiraya but felt that there was something more he could learn by at least trying to master some basic genjitsu techniques.

"I want to learn more about genjitsu. It's one of my main weaknesses when I'm in a battle. I'm trying to find out if there's anything I can learn that would help me against it." Said Naruto.

Kurenai stood up slowly cradling her pregnant belly.

"First, let's see what you already know." Said Kurenai. "Get ready."

"Okay." Said Naruto.

Kurenai looked into Naruto's eyes and preformed a jitsu with the same aspects someone would expect from Naruto's sexy jitsu. It was a love potion of sorts, designed to give the opponent an illusion of sexual bliss – rendering him or her inert.

Kurenai waved good-bye and disappeared into thin air with Sakura appearing right behind her. Naruto felt a very potent desire to pounce.

"This isn't fair." Naruto said.

Naruto did know it was in an illusion, but didn't care so much to try and stop it. Sakura carefully slipped off her clothing and exposed her breasts. Sakura's image took Naruto's hands and made him touch her. If this was an illusion, it was very well done. The illusion felt as real as life.

Naruto saw that the room around him was blurry. He wondered if the couch Kurenai had been sitting on had changed to a different color. These images, Naruto thought, were coming from his own mind, unless Kurenai knew Sakura as intimately as he did. That meant the intensity of his lust for Sakura was being powered by Kurenai. He still didn't care enough to stop the pleasure of it.

"There's no reason to make this easy on you Naruto." The illusion said.

"Huh?" Said Naruto.

"I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that you picked Saukra." Said the illusion of Sakura. "But you must know her very intimately to have conjured up such an image of her. Your own brain picks the image for this genjitsu. I just have to fill you with a bit of emotion to keep your image alive. It's like falling asleep into a dream and letting your mind wander into a specific subject. But I pick the subject for you."

Naruto was embarrassed. "Kurenai, please don't tell anyone else."

"Just focus!" Kurenai said angerly. Her voice echoed from around the room.

"Are you trying to find out if I can get out of the illusion?" Naruto said.

"Yes," Kurenai said.

Kurenai waited a while for Naruto to do something, but lost patience. She would have to do this the hard way. Normally a person can realize that the person they are staring at isn't real. Naruto was not reacting.

Naruto lost his mind a moment later inside Kurenai's illusion. Something about the way Kurenai was feeding his emotions made him lose control. He had no will to move. A depressed feeling hit him like he was drowning in water.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Naruto said. "I thought-"

Then Kurenai felt awful. Maybe she had pressed Naruto too hard. Perhaps he was tired from all the other training he had done. More than that, Naruto could currently be one of the strongest leaf ninja there is. She could see why he was concerned about being caught in an illusion. There is such awesome power in Naruto's abilities now. It was a shame to be stopped by something that is not even physical.

Kurenai liked Naruto. She was attracted to the boy. If only he were older, she thought. There was a strange carnal desire she felt when she stared into Naruto's eyes. A boy with such strength, so helpless against her right now – she was drawn to him. She touched his hand from across the coffee table.

"I haven't felt this way for a long time." Kurenai said.

Something is wrong, Kurenai thought. She didn't know Naruto. There was some sort of genjitsu working against her illusion.

"Kurenai… Sakura… please, I have to live." Naruto went on. "I thought you were my friend Sakura. I thought you loved me. Why did you kiss me? Don't leave me. I'll protect you. I'll be there by your side. I'll do anything."

"What chakra is this?" Said Kurenai.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto said. He was changing his tone to anger. He was no longer pleading, but threatening. "I didn't do anything to you. How can you think this is helping me? I won't let you. Stop!"

She was just feeding it. Kurenai had found, perhaps, something that had been a secret from Naruto for some time now. She wondered if anyone had any knowledge of it.

Against all of the logical thoughts in her brain Kurenai felt sorry for Naruto. She felt that she was doing wrong to him. She wanted him to forgive her. She wanted his friendship back. Her respect, love, and adoration for him must have increased ten fold over a matter of minutes. She had to stop or else this crush she was forming could turn into something dangerous.

God just look at those blue eyes, she thought.

"I can't hurt him." She said. "Amazing."

The illusion disappeared from Naruto's vision.

"What was that?." Naruto said.

"What did you see?" Kurenai said.

"Everything – I saw everything. At first I saw Sakura. But, then I felt all sorts of emotions, like anger and sadness. And I started saying things that I didn't understand. I felt like you were being mean to me or something, but now that I've snapped out of it – I realize you didn't do anything. So I'm not sure what's going on." Naruto said.

"Naruto, I know it might be a mistake to tell you this, because it could bring you worry." Kurenai said. "It seems that something has slipped through the cracks as you were growing up. You are coming to me for help on genjitsu, so I'm going to assume you don't know. You have been unknowingly using genjitsu on me since you walked in the door."

"I don't understand. I thought I just wasn't talented enough to use it." Naruto said.

"It must have seemed that way in training." Kurenai said. "If you are constantly using chakra flow for this jitsu, then other attempts at using genjitsu must have failed. Naruto, what I am trying to tell you is that you must have acquired some sort of bloodline technique from your parents. The jitsu you use is so subtle, that no one noticed it when you were growing up. Only someone like me would have noticed."

"What does it do?" Naruto said.

"Ever since you've been here I've felt closer to you. I feel feelings of camaraderie, kinship, trust, and even love." Said Kurenai. "Those effects are small and unnoticeable to a normal person. But over time, those feelings would surely lead to a friendship or a relationship. I felt more of it because I was feeding the fire."

"How could I not know? How could nobody have noticed?"

"Plenty of people had awakened powers inherited by their parents at your age. However, your jitsu is unique. Most genjitsu are violent and torturous. Yours seems to be peaceful. Have you noticed that when you really try to make friends with someone, that it's easy to do? Have you noticed that you can change people? This kind of thing would be so subtle that even Jiraya would not have noticed."

Naruto stood up straight then and tightened his fist. "No, it can't be."

"What is it?" Kurenai said.

"If what you're saying is true." Naruto said.

"Don't Naruto. Don't read too much into it." Kurenai expected this but didn't have the energy to chase after him if he ran.

"Oh my god! Sakura, Sauske, Jiraya, Kakashi, how many people believed in me. People have died for me. People have sacrificed. Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, all my friends."

"Naruto wait!"

"They aren't my friends are they..." Naruto moved back out to exit Kurenai's house.

"Naruto! It's not what you think! These people love you for who you are! Don't do this! What you have is a gift!"

Naruto stopped in the doorway. "What about Sakura-chan?"

"If she loves you, then it doesn't matter." Said Kurenai.

Naruto slammed the door. That was the wrong answer apparently.

"She's not affected!" Kurenai said. She knew this because Sakura had come to her a similar problem a while back. There wasn't a very good chance that Naruto could have affected her. There was also only a very slim chance that Naruto heard what she said after he closed her door.

Naruto stormed down the stairs of the house and out the front walkway. He bumped into Shikamaru around the corner. Shikamaru turned startled seeing that Naruto was angry. Naruto gave him a nasty look.

"What's your problem Naruto?" He said.

"Nothing." Naruto said, walking off into the distance.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru said.

"What is it?" Naruto said yelling back at him.

"There's a problem." Said Shikamaru. "Our intelligence network brings word that Sauske is returning home."

Naruto felt a fire burning inside him. He had tried his hardest with Sauske to save their friendship. Naruto wondered what the friendship was worth now that he had always been cursed with this ability to manipulate people.

"On his own accord?" Naruto said.

"We don't know why he's coming back, but yes." Shikamaru said. "We also know that he has affiliated himself with the Akatsuki. We don't know what his intentions are. And I figure if our spy network knows of this, that there's a possibility he wants us to know he's coming."

Naruto's village had already been half destroyed. This was bad timing.

"Damn you Sauske!" Naruto said.

"Naruto," Said Shikamaru. "We need your help."

***

**Chapter three: I will gain power in my own way.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: I will gain power in my own way.**

Hinata saw Naruto storming out of the entrance to Konoha. And upon stepping outside the walls of the village he slowed his step. He looked around, as if sensing someone close. She hid behind the walls of a ruined house just in case he turned to see her.

She waited until she was sure he was gone and then peeked out again to make sure no one was there.

"Hinata? What are you doing?" Naruto said.

Hinata fainted.

Naruto waited around for her to wake up. He knew he shouldn't leave her there passed out like that. He must have scared her. If he hadn't been so cautious he wouldn't have had to creep up on her like that. But something inside him considered that it might have been Sasuke. Naruto was a bit ashamed of his paranoia.

Once she awoke, Hinata seemed oblivious to what had happened. But, immediately after seeing Naruto again she went red in the face and put her head down to let her hair cover it up. Naruto stepped over to her and bent over to diagnose the problem she was having.

Like a doctor looking over a patient, he looked at her eyes, face, and throat. He had a quizzical look and put the back of his hand on her forehead.

"Are you okay Hinata? You fainted." Naruto said scrunching his face, still wondering what illness she had.

She backed away from him and stood up. Concentrating on her breathing helped her focus on standing up.

"I'm okay," Hinata said. "How are you Naruto?"

He didn't know quite how to answer. The last few days had been so up and down. At the moment Naruto didn't fully understand how to handle the news about Sasuke. And he felt paranoia from a supposed bloodline technique that he didn't fully understand.

"I've been okay." Naruto said. He watched to see if the cursed technique would take effect.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I saw you leaving. I hid because I thought… I thought you might think I was spying on you." She said.

"You were spying on me?" Naruto said.

"No! Um… No I wasn't!" Said Hinata.

Hinata put her hands up and pointed her fingers at each other. The tips of her fingers tapped softly together. She fidgeted for a while. Concentrating on this helped her calm down when she was anxious.

"Okay Hinata, well, I guess I'll see you later." Naruto said.

"Naruto, you looked… Angry." She said.

"Oh…" Naruto said. "Oh! You were spying on me!"

She let out a whimper. Her embarrassment was thick and painful. She wanted to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her face looked angry and upset. She didn't like being in this position.

Then Naruto saw it. He was affecting her. Something about the conversation was starting to make her crazy. Naruto wondered if the technique could be that effective. It could be powerful enough to make people faint.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "Why are you crying?"

There were plenty of things she could have said in response. Naruto had noticed plenty of things about Hinata before, but never noticed how much she cared for what he thought of her. She wanted to know why, and could only think of one thing to do.

She hit him in the shoulder – hard. Not expecting it, he stumbled back a bit. And immediately she noticed how strong his body had become. He was as solid as a tree trunk.

"Ow, Hinata." Naruto said. "What was that for?"

"Naruto… What… do you think about me?" Hinata said, still pouting.

He was confused. Hinata had always acted a bit strange around him, but this was downright awkward.

"I think you're strong, brave, and … um… pretty! I've always thought of you as a friend but we don't get to hang out much. I always thought it was because you were a princess and weren't supposed to hang out with guys like me." Naruto smiled with all his teeth.

"You… Think I'm pretty?" She said. Her face brightened up.

"Oh… Yeah I did say that… Um…" Naruto had let that one slip. It was happening again. She was being affected by his genjitsu. "Hinata, I have to tell you something."

"Yes?" Hinata said, trembling at the thought of what he could say.

"I found out that I have a new jitsu." Naruto said.

"Found out? What do you mean?" She said.

"It's something that might have been handed down by my parent's genes. I didn't know about it until earlier today." He said.

"What is it?" She said.

"I think it affects people and what they think about me. It changes their thoughts about me. I don't know who I've affected. I'm wondering now if the friends I've made were because of me, or this jitsu." Naruto said.

"What are you going to do?" Hinata said.

"I'm going to leave Konoha. I don't feel like I can face anyone anymore." Naruto said.

Hinata stood up and faced him.

"That's stupid Naruto!" Hinata said. "We need you! The people of Konoha need you with us!"

"They're better off without me." Naruto said.

"Don't go!" Hinata said.

The genjitsu must have been working on her. Naruto never thought of Hinata as someone who would like him more than a friend. He had never really even thought about it. Clearly the fact that they were talking like this was evidence of something unusual.

"I have to go." Naruto said.

Naruto turned around and left her there. Hinata muttered something under her breath that Naruto couldn't hear.

Naruto felt a boulder smash into his back. At least, it felt like something large had smashed into him. She had severed his chakra flow to his limbs. He fell over and couldn't move. Maybe it was the thirty-two palm strike. If it was, it felt like the strikes hit him all at once.

Hinata turned him over harshly and grabbed his collar. She pulled him up while a few tears dripped from her eyes.

"Naruto! You can't leave! If… If you try… I'll… I'll brake all the bones in your body to make you stay." Hinata said. "Naruto?"

Naruto was stunned.

"It's too late." Naruto said.

"Sasuke." Hinata said, with a look of disgust on her face – tears flowing.

"Wha, what?" Naruto stuttered.

"You're going to do just what Sasuke did." Hinata said crying. "I feel sorry for you."

Naruto stared at her for a while. He didn't know she could be so wise. That was the key. He was less confused now. She was right.

"Hinata…" Naruto said. "Thank you."

Hinata let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately she didn't have to use her new technique. That would have rendered him useless for days.

It was important that Naruto master the affects of his Kekkei Genkai. He would control it for the sake of his friends. Hinata let him know that there were worse things about having people care for him. It was strange having someone respect you when it might not have been earned, he thought. But it was surely worse for Naruto to think his friends would feel sorry for him. Besides, he didn't know he was doing it in the first place.

Naruto felt that there were worse things that could happen than for people to admire him.

There was commotion beyond the walls. People were fighting just outside. The clash of kunai and shuriken clanged together. Smoke bombs flew and exploded. There was a feint sound of electricity. There were birds chirping.

"Chidori," Naruto said.

"Baykugan!" Hinata yelled. "Naruto, it's Sasuke. He's here."

"I can't move." Naruto said.

Hinata tapped him with her pointed fingers like acupuncture. Her fingers had been trained to be tough enough to puncture skin and even break bone in certain places. But, she was also trained to reverse the damage to chakra flow that happens with her palm techniques.

Naruto could move again, and he stood up. He ran to the gates, outside, and into the battle.

There he was, clear as day. He was wearing a black cloak like the Akatsuki. It was fully black with no markings. Black ops ninja were fighting him off with no success. It was a massacre. Naruto couldn't even see Sasuke's movements.

"Sasuke!" Naruto growled. His voice echoed in anger stopping the battle.

For a moment the black ops ninja were distracted by Naruto, and when they saw him approach they backed away and gave him some space. Sasuke had not been distracted. His sharingan eyes were on Naruto the second he was in view. Sasuke's hand held a sword crafted from a beam of lightening.

Hundreds of shinobi landed behind Naruto, just outside the walls of their village. Sasuke didn't show any sign of being alarmed.

"You just don't give up, do you Naruto?" Said Sasuke.

"Why have you come back?" Naruto said.

"It's complicated." Sasuke said. "There are things I know now. Things I have to tell you."

Sasuke retracted his Chidori.

"You think you can just come back. After something like this." Naruto said.

"Yes, Naruto." Sasuke explained. "Before anything else, just let me tell you one thing. If you don't want me to stay after that, I will turn around and go."

"Say it." Naruto said.

Sasuke saw Naruto's face paint over with circles over his eyes and his pupils changed. This was the sage technique Orochimaru warned Sasuke about. Naruto was raising his defenses.

Sasuke didn't kill anyone. Some of the black ops ninja were unconscious. Naruto could sense their chakra.

"I want peace between you and me." Sasuke said.

"I've heard that before. Prove it." Naruto said.

Sasuke paused a moment to think. Sakura walked out of the crowd.

"Yeah Sasuke, prove it." Sakura said. "You've been gone so long, what business is it of yours? You weren't here. Look at our village!"

Sasuke saw the village in shambles. There was reconstruction happening, but only the very beginnings of it.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke said. "But, we don't know enough Naruto. We are young, and we are unwise. We need to figure out what is going on with all these warring nations. I am not strong enough to do it alone. I'm not strong enough even with the people that I command. But together, we can find peace."

Naruto waited for him to say more just in case. He looked over at Sakura, who nodded at Naruto. She was convinced he was telling the truth. Walking over to Sasuke with an outstretched hand Naruto swore he heard someone yell out the word: Hokage!

Their hands came together and they shook. Naruto tightened his grip.

"You aren't going to try and kill me on a whim are you?" Naruto smiled with fire in his eyes.

"Things have changed." Sasuke laughed.

They ended the handshake.

"It's clear that you don't trust me." Sasuke said.

"It'll take time." Naruto said.

"No, you know there is only one way you'll know." Sasuke said.

"You're saying we have to fight..." Naruto said. "Where?"

"It looks like someone made an arena of your village. Might as well be there." Sasuke said.

**Next Chapter: Don't worry. He's Back**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: Don't worry. He's back.**

They stood in the middle of where the village used to be. There was a cool wind, alien to Naruto, because buildings had been there to shield him from this cold before.

"So Naruto, still a genin?" Sasuke chuckled.

"Shut up and fight!" Naruto said.

Naruto threw a kunai straight as Sasuke's face. Sasuke unsheathed his sword and swiped at it to deflect. The two blades collided with a clang. The kunai was deflected falling to the side. The wind infused in the Kunai expanded past the lightening blade and cut Sasuke's shoulder.

"So you've learned some new tricks?" Sasuke said. "Sharingan!"

Sasuke's eyes blinked red. He could see Naruto's chakra now. The sage chakra Orochimaru warned him about was flaring off of him. He would be able to dodge his attacks.

Naruto flung himself towards Sasuke and spinned around to kick. Sasuke saw the sage chakra expanding beyond his leg. Ducking out of the way, Sasuke stepped back and kept a few steps more of distance.

Naruto landed and swung again at Sasuke, missing completely. Again, and again, Naruto missed. He couldn't land one punch.

Sasuke fought back with a speed superior to Naruto's.

*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*

It was like punching a boulder. Sasuke's attacks, though he landed them, didn't seem to do any damage. Naruto's feet never left the ground, but he was pushed back.

"How are you going to win if you can't hit me?" Sasuke said.

"You have to be able to punch harder than that Sasuke!" Naruto said.

"Fine." Sasuke said. "Chidori!"

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled.

He did it without clones. Sasuke noticed and thought it might have been the sage chakra at work. They only had to take a few steps before they took a full swing at each other. The energy from the two attacks exploded and they were sent back, again, without damaging one another. Left behind in the explosion was a black residue on the ground. A black powder lay on the ground in the middle of them.

They both stared at it. It was almost moving. The powder seemed to be steaming with stored chakra like some sort of battery.

Sasuke paid no mind to it. Naruto reached into his pocket and slammed down a smoke bomb. The smoke enveloped Naruto. Sasuke could hear him summoning clones and backed away.

Out from the smoke ran two clones at either side. In front of the smokescreen was an attack that Sasuke had never seen. It was a green disk flying at him with a blurring speed. The sound of it was like a thousand swords piercing Sasuke's ears.

Sasuke jumped over it and landed on the other side. He landed hard on his feet and was brought to his knees – his hands supporting his fall. He felt the wind of the disc behind him slowing. He had been lucky. If he had stood up he would have been shredded by the shuriken expanding behind him. The force of the wind still knocked Sasuke further to the ground pinning him face down in the dirt.

The first clone jumped in as the shuriken dissipated. Sasuke stood up to dogde but Naruto had feigned the attack in front. From behind Naruto kicked Sasuke in the ass.

"Guhhh…" Sasuke let out the air in his lungs and flew straight into the cloud of smoke.

Naruto clobbered him sending him right back out of the smoke. Sasuke tumbled to a stop. A few people watching from afar cheered as Sasuke struggled to stand up. A bit of drool mixed with blood spat out of Sasuke's mouth as he coughed it out of his throat.

"Oh yeah, *cough* everyone loves you now! You asshole…" Sasuke said.

"Let's stop this Sasuke. That's enough. I trust you. Let it go." Naruto said.

"Not even close Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

Sasuke put away his sword. The smoke cleared enough to see through. Naruto stood in the middle and his clones to either side. Sasuke ran straight to the first clone and baited him into an attack. As Naruto's clone punched at him Sasuke darted underneath to the other side.

"Chidori!" Sasuke said, punching through the clone.

*POOF*

Sasuke let the other clone approach. The clone jumped again to land a kick, aiming as Sasuke's torso. Sasuke out stretched one hand and the sound of birds chirping from the chidori slowed to a humming sound. Out from Sasuke's hand stretched a lightening blade ripping the clone in half.

*POOF*

"And now you," Sasuke muttered.

Sasuke ran towards Naruto with clenched teeth. Sasuke's blood was crawling out of his mouth onto his chin. Naruto retreated from where he was standing and kept his distance. And from where he stood before, two more of Naruto's clones were summoned in place.

"What?" Sasuke said.

Sasuke jumped and flipped backwards, dodging two attacks from the newly summoned clones. Naruto stood behind them. Sasuke didn't see him do any hand signs. And then after the two clones, three, and then four more were summoned. Still, no hand signs from Naruto. The clones gathered as two more clones were summoned. No hand signs.

The clones gathered in threes and created two more Rasen-Shuriken. They threw them both offset horizontally but flying in line with each other straight towards Sasuke. The discs were loaded with chakra but Naruto seemed to be able to have an unending supply. Four of the clones disappeared.

*PO-PO-PO-POOF*

"That's it!!" Sasuke said. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"

Two torrents of fire blew from Sasuke's mouth at an angle towards the wind discs consuming them. The fire seemed to grow larger and was shot into the sky over Naruto. The arena was covered in shadow, and clouds hovered around where there was once blue sky.

Lightning struck randomly around the battle field.

*SNAP* *GUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRR*

Thunder shook the ground moment to moment. Naruto, not fazed by this, approached Sasuke again from all sides.

"Amaterasu!" Sasuke said.

Black flame crackled and spread to the clones. All of them wailing in pain and exploding into nothing as they fell. Naruto stood away from the flames with arms crossed.

"Give up now or this is going to get ugly!" Sasuke said.

"Never!" Naruto said. Pointing to Sasuke.

"Amaterasu!" Sasuke repeated. His vision blurring.

Sasuke brought his hands to his face and shook his head to snap out of it. His vision went in and out. He could hear screaming from Naruto's direction.

"Shit, I didn't want to…" Sasuke said.

*POOF*

"What?"

Naruto's body had disappeared.

"Where are you!" Sasuke boomed.

Two clones appeared into the lonely battle field out of thin air. Sasuke looked around frantically to find the real Naruto. There were marks in the ground in places. They were like the little cracks that formed when Kakashi used to hide underground. Sasuke felt defeated. He had wasted so much time on the clones only to find the real Naruto was somewhere… else.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Sasuke belted out an escalated scream. "I'm smoking you out you bastard!"

Out from the ground hundereds of clones crawled out like gophers.

"Ahhhhhhhh! KIRIN!" Sasuke wailed.

Naruto and his clones felt the earth shake and they gathered quickly in the middle and all jumped into the air at once. A mess of clones scattered about the landscape and a few clones cleared the cloud cover before the lightning hit.

Thunder quaked throughout and fried massive amounts of shadow clones. And a moment later a few Naruto clones fell from the sky having evaded the attack.

"Woah woah woah! Ahhh!" Naruto flailed as he hit the ground hard.

*SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM*

Three left. One of them had to be Naruto. Sasuke was nearly out of chakra. All three were still in sage mode. They all raced towards Sasuke. Sasuke raced to meet them head on and equipped his sword again. Sasuke had to end this fast.

Sasuke sliced one clone down the middle and it went up in smoke. One grasped the blade afterwards and the other got behind his back and locked his arms up. Sasuke struggled and Naruto walked in front of him.

"You're the original huh?" Sasuke said smiling devilishly. "Tsukyomi."

Naruto was thrown into genjitsu onto the nine-tails prison seal. The claws of the fox reached out and held him against the prison bars. Sasuke, now completely calm and confident, stepped towards Naruto over rippling water.

"Dad! DAD!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh Naruto, you're completely out of your mind…" Sasuke said. "But whoever you are yelling for, we aren't in your mind. You're in my jitsu."

"Sasuke! Bastard!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke stabbed Naruto with his blade. Naruto choked on his own pain and hacked up blood onto his shirt. This seemed to go on for a while.

"You certainly have the world's thickest skin. Maybe you have felt too many physical wounds. How about this?"

Sakura appeared behind Sasuke's blade.

"Naruto don't let him do it! Please!" Sakura pleaded.

*HACK* *SLICE*

Sasuke cleaved Sakura in two and she lay headless on the floor. Then she appeared again.

"Naruto please! Sasuke don't hurt me! Naruto!" Sakura pleaded.

*HACK* *SLICE*

After a few thousand times of Naruto seeing Sakura die. Naruto's eyes glossed over and he hung there in the claws of the Kyuubi emotionless and defeated.

"It's a pity, I –" Sasuke was interrupted by something. Naruto's chakra… Something had changed. Sasuke felt guilty for some reason. Naruto was his friend. He knew how hard he worked to get him back on the team. Naruto was a true friend.

"What is this?" Sasuke said. "No, I know, this is all bullshit."

"How can you do this to me?" Naruto said in monotone - expressionless.

"Don't you ever say that to me!" Sasuke said. "Oh yeah! Da da da da da!"

Sasuke waived his hands around with a frenzied look.

"You think you're so fucking special don't you! You're such a fucking prick." Sasuke said. "Ahhh… fuck!"

Sasuke started laughing hysterically.

"Haha! Ha ha ha! Why is it so hard to hate you mother fucker!" Sasuke chuckled losing his sanity.

Naruto awoke from his defeated state to find Sasuke writhing in disgust.

"Sasuke! This isn't over!"

Sasuke straightened up. "Oh yes it is! All that bullshit with you and Sakura! I bet you two are together now huh! How did it feel to know she loved me first."

"Shut your mouth!" Naruto said.

"Oh what are you going to do about it? You never gave a shit about me did you? It was all about Sakura. All about you being in looooove with her. You knew she loved me first so you got the idea in your head that you could make her happy by bringing me back."

"How fucking dare you say that!" Naruto said. "I meant everything I said to you, and you went on your way!"

"What makes you want to be my friend so fucking badly!" Sasuke said.

"You were the first person I thought could be close enough to be a brother to me!" Naruto said. "That's why. And I will always want that back the way it was."

"I KILLED MY BROTHER!" Sasuke said. "You know nothing about me and what I've been through. YOU are the selfish one."

"Your brother…" Naruto said. "He's dead…"

"I'm not going to kill you. You're going to give up. And I'll tell you exactly why I am here." Sasuke said impatiently. "If not I'm going to have to knock you out the old fashioned way."

"Who said you were winning?" Naruto said.

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke walked towards him and went to stab him again.

Chakra in…

Chakra out…

The genjitsu was eradicated. The two of them stood on the battlefield hunched over and tired. Naruto was no longer in sage mode. Sasuke walked over to him and threw a punch. Naruto flung his torso back and dodged but stumbled back not able to control his weight. Sasuke's body trembled and stepped heavily again throwing another punch at Naruto. Sasuke connected with Naruto's shoulder pushing Naruto back. Sasuke fell to one knee. Naruto, falling backwards, swung a leg up like a pendulum and smacked Sasuke in the chin. Sasuke fell back and twisted around face down on the ground. Sasuke breathed hard and Naruto was on his ass looking half asleep. Sasuke's arms spasmed as he pushed himself up again. Naruto waddled with every fiber of his being ready for this last attack. Sasuke managed to stand up. Naruto stretched his arm out to Sasuke for a handshake. Sasuke stood there briefly in thought, but then slowly his hand came up to meet Naruto's.

They grasped each other's hands and stood there for a moment. They both smiled.

Then Naruto whipped his forehead into Sasuke's nose.

*CRUNCH*

Sasuke was knocked cold before he hit the ground.

Naruto stumbled, stepped randomly, and fell afterwards. He could hear Sakura.

"Naruto! Oh god… Naruto stay with me. Stay awake." Sakura said.

"You came to me… first…" Naruto said.

"Yes Naruto." Sakura said holding back tears.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I just need a nap." Naruto said. "Go help Sasuke, I think I broke his… pretty little face."

"But…" Sakura said.

"Don't worry. He's back."

Sakura knelt down and hugged Naruto for a while before going off to heal Sasuke's wounds.

**End: Naruto's Curse**


End file.
